Murderous Love
by Setsuna Seta
Summary: Heero is the best assassin the world has met, Duo is a hacker wanted dead. What happens if Heero can't fullfill his mission because he fell in love with his target?
1. First Chapter

YAY! My first GW fic. I hope you all like it. And by the way, these: mean someone's thinking.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of its characters. I'm just a humble little writer who decided to have some fun with them. You can relax, I ain't making any money out of this (sadly).

FIRST CHAPTER

A loud gunshot was heard by no one, except a couple of men. One was young with dark brown hair and beautiful prussian eyes, the other was tall and black-haired. Pity the last man had to hear it because it also meant his life was over. The first one returned a gun to its holster and left the body there.

"It's done" said the man through a cell phone.

"Good, you shall receive your payment soon"

A click and the phone call was over. The man with those intriguing prussian eyes turned to leave. Mr. Yuy, a hired-assassin, ruthless, cold-blooded, methodical, and in other words, the best at his job, had performed yet another excellent job. He was a man who lived only for his work, who couldn't allow mistakes…

A computer screen was the only thing that lit the otherwise dark room. The shadow of a man was cast, a man dressed all in black and with long, braided hair.

"He, he, these bastards will pay for what they did"

ENTER was pushed and he started to laugh his pants off. After he turned his computer off he started to gather all his belongings in the room in a suitcase. It was dark outside when he left the run-down hotel he was staying at. It was time to run for it, as usual. Just in time to catch the last train out of Chicago.

Chaos and disorder, especially in a large company, was not exactly welcome, and the hacker we just met had a knack for getting into trouble. For like the eleventh time in the past three years he had to flee before any one caught him. And wanted he was.

This time it had been the Winner Outer-Space Transport Company the victim. It would take them months to rid all their computers of the virus he sent and in the meanwhile they couldn't operate their transporters to avoid the risk of a major accident. Quite a great loss caused only because the long braided hacker decided to get even.

When he left the station he took a nice look around. N.Y. was his next home for at least a couple of months, until time came to run again. The still dressed in black character walked towards a fast food restaurant, ready to give something to his grumbling stomach.

As he entered, the first sight that caught his eyes was a young man, sitting all alone and reading the newspaper. He had dark brown hair, wore a faded pair of jeans and a green tank top, and when he looked up from his newspaper to receive his coffee from the waitress, a couple of prussian eyes were revealed.

_He's definitely hot_ the new arrived found himself thinking. _If I could only get close to him that would absolutely make my day_

He ordered some hotcakes and a cup of coffee and went to sit down at the table right behind the guy. A plan was in his mind to get to talk to the guy. However, it all turned out even better because the man abruptly stood up with his cup in his hand. The result was a collision between the two and a spilled coffee down the black-dressed man's front.

"Awww man, I had just gotten this out of the dry-clean store!" whimpered the man, secretly happy for his luck.

"I'm terribly sorry for this, I'm afraid I wasn't looking" apologized the man with the green tank top in a rather hurried way.

"Now I'll have to walk around like this until I get a hotel" kept groaning the first man.

"Listen, I'm really, really sorry. I'll make it up to you"

"Nah, just leave it like this"

"No, please. Come with me" and he hurried him out of the restaurant.

Completely forgetting about hotcakes and coffee, the runaway hacker didn't hesitate to follow his new "friend" into a luxurious hotel room. This guy was definitely rolling on money. He lent the hacker some clothes while he sent someone to clean his guest's outfit.

"I'm so very sorry" began the man, but the hacker stopped him from talking.

"It's all right, you've made it up for me, I can't complain any further… so, nice place" he said looking around and making himself comfortable.

"Don't get too cozy"

"Hey, I'm sorry, just trying to make small talk here"

"You'll leave as soon as your clothes come back"

"Whoa, Mr. Tight, slow down. Is this how you normally treat people who you've just spilled with a cup of very hot coffee?"

"I don't even know you…"

"Duo Maxwell's the name" interrupted the hacker.

"Uh?" taken aback with this sudden interruption there was a pause in which both had a chance to take a quick look at each other. Duo Maxwell did his best to hide it, but he was in fact checking the guy out.

"What's your name?"

"I'm Heero Yuy…"

"You see, now that we know each other we can get to talk"

"But…"

"Loosen up a bit, try to act nice"

Heero Yuy was now really taken aback. He didn't usually treat strangers with such informality as this guy Duo Maxwell was now treating him. He was slightly annoyed by this, but more important things were on his mind right now. A big job was coming and he didn't have time to worry about weird guys who furtively checked him out.

The phone rang and Heero answered. The voice was quite familiar and he was sure he'd as good as got the job in the bag. But that guy Maxwell couldn't hear anything of it so he didn't say much.

"Listen Wufei, I can't really talk right now, I'll call you back as soon as I can" said Heero.

Pretending he didn't listen, Duo was now looking around. A knock on the door announced his clothes were done.

"Here's your clothes, now go" Heero opened the door and gestured Duo to get out.

"Well thank you for your hospitality" said Duo sarcastically. _But if he was going to be this mean to me he didn't have to bring me here. He could have just given me the money and gotten it over with_

As a response Heero slammed the door in his face.

_What was I thinking of? _thought Heero _Bringing him here?_

A dangerous business it was, for Heero to simply pick up any stranger and take them to his hotel room. Only after a while did he realize how stupid he'd been. But at the moment he could only think of how great that guy looked. He didn't even notice his next victim getting ready to leave, no wonder he had an accident in his rush to follow him out of the restaurant.

A mistake like that could have cost him his job… his life. _But all the same _he kept thinking _it was worth it_

Heero Yuy, the best hired-assassin the world had seen, forgot for just a moment about his victims, concentrated only in that man's face. Duo Maxwell would make a change in his life, he knew it, he always did when he first set eyes on someone like him.


	2. Second Chapter

**SECOND CHAPTER**

"Mr. Chang, I'm so glad you could make it. Please take a seat"

A man, obviously Chinese for both his face characteristics and the way he was dressed, was in a big, elegant office. This man's name was Wufei Chang. Mr. Chang sank onto a very comfortable high chair and opposite to him, behind a recently polished wooden desk, sat a blonde man. He was young, probably around Wufei's own age, 20.

"Would you like a cup of tea?" asked a black-dressed butler.

"No thank you" answered Wufei politely.

The butler excused himself and abandoned the office. While Wufei carefully studied the man in front of him, a third man entered the room. Taller than the other two and with a stern expression, he positioned himself next to the blonde, standing like a prison guard. Wufei stared at him annoyed.

Obviously noticing this, the blonde spoke again.

"This is Trowa Barton, Mr. Chang, my most trusted counselor.

"Good evening Mr. Chang" bowed Trowa Barton. Wufei simply nodded.

"All right then, to business" the blonde dropped his kind manner of speech to get into a more formal way.

"Yes. I understand that you are looking for a man… a certain hacker" began Wufei.

"That is correct. As you understand, my company is one of the most prominent outer space transport companies, and now, due to this hacker, our whole system has come crashing down at a great cost"

"I understand that perfectly, as I also understand that you want such person eliminated"

For a brief moment the blonde turned to look at his counselor, a certain quiver on his lower lip.

"The man has cost us more money than what you can imagine" replied his counselor Trowa Barton instead "I suppose it's only fair he pays for it and I'm afraid that his life would barely be enough to cover the debt"

The blonde lowered his head. He couldn't hide the fact that he did not agree with Trowa's particular point of view.

"I believe you don't want him dead Mr. Winner, am I correct?" pointed Wufei out.

The blonde, young Mr. Winner, raised his head surprised. Something like an odd sense of relief and hope shone in his eyes.

"I really was hoping we could avoid such action. A man's life is very important and shouldn't be taken at one's will…"

"I see. Then the hacker will be captured, brought to you, and you decide the rest" neither of the men opposite to Wufei spoke so he began to stand, "I believe this meeting's over gentlemen. Please excuse me, I have a lot of things to do"

Wufei Chang left the office and was led by the butler outside the Winner mansion. Young Quatre Raberba Winner was the heir to the whole millionaire empire his father had built and was the blonde man he had just been talking to. Due to this incident with the hacker, Wufei was called to close a deal with them. Heero was to find such hacker and Wufei made sure he got the job. After all, that's what Wufei did, he met Heero's clients and closed the deals with them; Heero was in charge of the dirty work.

Wufei took the cell phone that hung from his belt and phoned Heero to the hotel they were currently staying. After having an operator answer he asked for Heero's room and was immediately communicated with him.

"Hey Heero, I got news for you" started Wufei.

"Listen Wufei, I can't really talk right now, I'll call you back as soon as I can" was all he got for an answer before Heero hung up.

Wondering what on Earth could possibly prevent Heero from being able to talk at the moment, Wufei took a cab and pointed the direction to the driver. After a while the cab was pulling up to a fancy hotel and Wufei was paying the bill.

The next day Wufei woke up late. Feeling the bed around him he discovered Heero wasn't there any more. He was probably on his victim's tail again. A job was still pending and all that was left was for Heero to find the perfect moment to pull the trigger. Wufei wrapped himself in a bathrobe and decided to take a refreshing bath before he set out to get some breakfast.

Wufei and Heero occasionally shared a bed, but they weren't what you'd call lovers. They liked each other, but that was about it… but that certainly didn't stop them from spending whole nights awake and busy. But still, they were simply good friends. They had met nearly six years ago, before Heero had entered the mercenary business at a beach party. Heero had always been secretive and mysterious but that night he discovered he could trust Wufei.

When they grew up, nearly four years after they met, Heero became a mercenary for an unknown reason, even for Wufei. But still, Heero let him handle the business part and they became partners. Although he had found someone he could trust, Heero was still

secretive most of the time, but Wufei knew how to respect his privacy. Somehow, unknowingly, he was falling in love with his partner.

Wufei sank into the cool bathtub water. He put a CD in his CDPlayer and put the headphones on. While he drummed his finger at the music's same beat, he thought of the man he had visited just yesterday. Quatre Winner was a pacifist, something, in Wufei's opinion, reserved for weaklings. Killing his opponents had let Heero survive and make a good living out of it, and Wufei admired him for that. Visiting people like Mr. Winner made him uneasy.

For a while he just lay there, until there was a knock on the door. Surprised anyone could come at this hour, he wondered whether Heero had forgotten to place the "Do not disturb" sign on the door. Wrapping himself again in the bathrobe he left the bathroom soaking and annoyed.

When he opened the door he had expected someone from the hotel, probably a lady wanting to know if she could already make the room, but instead he found a guy.

He was young, dressed all in black, and with a long brown braid. He was absentmindedly looking around until Wufei opened. When he turned he just stared with his mouth half open.

"Hi…" he said finally, "I was looking for Heero Yuy"

Wufei was absolutely stunned. What was a guy like him doing there looking for Heero? As far as he knew, no one knew Heero in this city, therefore, no one knew he was staying at this hotel.

"He's not here right now… may I ask what do you want with him?" Wufei answered closely inspecting the guy.

He was about his same height, with brown hair like mentioned before, and had amazing cobalt eyes. He was also carrying a package, a plastic bag, and when Wuifei showed up he sort of tried to hide it behind his back.

"Oh, nothing important, really, I just wanted to talk to him… but I can come back later so, see ya!"

Before Wufei could go after him the guy started to walk away. He would've followed him but he reminded himself that he was naked and wet. Just then the phone rang and he had to go back.

"Yes?"

"Wufei, it's me" answered Heero on the other side of the line.

"What's up?"

"I'm done here, could you make sure this gets taken care of?"

"Sure, you come back this moment, I'll sort things out"

"Good…"

"By the way, you got some things to explain…"

TBC

A/N: Hi! Thank you for your reviews, I hope you like this chapter and that I didn't keep you waiting a long time. I'll see you next chapter.


	3. Third Chapter

THIRD CHAPTER 

Wufei and Heero were sitting at a fancy café. Behind dark shades that made him look absolutely delicious enough to eat… (gomen, got a bit carried away) Wufei explained over a cup of hot mocha and a slice of chocolate cake what Heero was supposed to do next. Heero wasn't really listening though, and he simply nodded from time to time. He caught something about a new victim and a large sum of money in payment, but that was about it.

Heero was gazing dreamily outside the large window towards the people in the street. His heart gave an involuntary jolt when he saw a man dressed in black approaching… False alarm, it was merely a priest walking by. To avoid Wufei telling him off for not listening he eventually took a sip of his coffee and turned to look at him.

"…so I suggest you start looking for J, I'm sure he'll be able to tell us something about it" was saying Wufei at the moment.

"Yeah, probably…" assented Heero not really knowing what he was saying yes to. Anyway, he would get the finer details from Wufei later in a very casual and discreet manner. It always worked pretending he had some doubts about what they had previously discussed so Wufei would go once more over the whole deal. Apparently Wufei had never noticed Heero's tactics.

"There's also one more thing I want to talk to you about, Heero" continued Wufei.

"Hn…" nodded Heero, still not listening.

"This morning a guy dressed in black came to our hotel room. Do you know him?"

Heero choked into his cup when he heard Wufei mention a guy in black. Soon he came back to his senses and realized that Wufei was actually talking about that Maxwell guy. For the first time since they sat down to eat, Heero was giving him full attention.

"A guy dressed in black?" asked Heero casually, recovering himself after a few coughs, as if though nearly choking to death was not a matter of concern.

"Yes Heero, a guy dressed in black, about our age and your height, with a long brown braid and cobalt eyes. He showed up this morning right at our hotel room. Got any idea of who might he be?"

"I… he… umm…" Heero was in a tight spot, how could he explain Wufei he had been stupid enough to take that man to their room. "I don't know," answered Heero slowly, pretending he was as surprised as Wufei.

"Oh really? Well, I had a funny feeling you might…"

"He might've gotten the wrong address or something…"

"Really?"

Heero held Wufei's stare for as long as he could, trying to act innocent. Despite the fact he was a cold-blooded murderer, used to hiding any sort of emotions beneath a thick, serious mask, he always had a tough time trying to hide the truth from Wufei. His friend knew him too well, and no matter how good he was at covering the facts from even a mind reader, he knew he wouldn't be able to hide it for long from him.

_ I'm screwed _thought Heero.

Wufei obviously knew Heero was lying. That man dressed in black had clearly asked for Heero Yuy. What were the odds of having another man called Heero Yuy staying at the same hotel, but at a different room and that the guy exactly mistook the other's address for his friend's.

_ Probably a gazillion to one _thought Wufei kicking that stupid idea off his head.

"Well, maybe you're right" finally said Wufei deciding to play along Heero's game, "he must've mistaken the number or something"

Heero froze momentarily, unwilling to believe his luck. Had Wufei bought it? He dearly hoped that the Maxwell guy had forgotten his name or that he didn't mention it. Still, not wanting to press the matter he seized the first subject that came to his mind to change the course of the talk.

"So… you were saying that we have to find J… any ideas of where he might be at right now?" said Heero as casual as he could, attempting to take another sip of his coffee, only to realize his cup was empty.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Trowa Barton knew his friend all too well to believe that he'd make the hacker pay for his faults. The most Quatre would do would be lock him away at some prison and keep him there for some years until he thought he'd had punishment enough, but after that he'd let the hacker free as a bird with no extra charges. That was the kind of man Quatre was. Kind-hearted, thought Trowa sometimes; quite stupid, would think the rest of the people most of the time if Trowa wasn't there to ensure that whomever thought that got what they deserved… probably torture…

To make sure his friend's name as well as his company's were kept clean and still respected, Trowa was going to take matters in his own hands. He was going after the hacker himself. Quatre would obviously discover his plans of pursuit, but for some lame excuse of wanting to save some money if he got there before the mercenary he was sure to get off with it. Quatre blindly trusted Trowa, even with his own life if necessary.

As he was packing a cell phone, some guns and extra bullets in a briefcase, Quatre came into his room. One look around told him everything he needed to know.

"So you're going hunting as well?" asked the blonde.

"If I get to the hacker before the mercenary we won't have to pay him. You know that at the moment the company can't afford to throw away such sums"

"It's all right, we won't go bankrupt from paying a couple of million dollars"

"I'm still going"

Quatre bit his lip and stared at Trowa's back for a moment while his most trusted counselor kept reaching for spare bullets on his bed and packing them neatly. When Trowa closed the briefcase and turned, Quatre immediately lowered his gaze to the floor.

Trowa advanced toward him and when he was within inches of him he raised the blonde man's chin in an affectionate way. He stared deeply into his eyes for a moment and lowered himself slowly to kiss those soft and tender lips.

"I'll be all right," whispered Trowa when they parted.

"I know, but I can't help feeling worried about you," answered Quatre moving closer until he was leaning on the taller man's chest.

Trowa wrapped his arms around him and with one hand gently stroked the blonde hair, just like comforting a small child that was afraid of monsters underneath his bed. They stayed like that for a while until it grew darker; then, it was time to go to bed…

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Duo Maxwell was in shock. He had found Heero Yuy, that was for sure, but he had no idea he was staying with such a hot guy. Maybe that was his lucky day. Tirelessly working on his ever-faithful computer, at the middle of the night, he soon discovered a notice that amused him.

"Wanted, dead or alive" he began to read, "hacker that provoked the Winner Outer-Space Transport Company mass computer breakdown. Any information on him/her will be generously paid. Negotiable reward… he, he, they're really pissed off!" exclaimed Duo gleefully as he finished reading the notice, "and a 'negotiable reward'… well, makes me want to turn myself in just to get the money… speaking of which…"

Eyeing his wallet he discovered that not even moths would fly out of it. Time to get some cash, even if it was just to pay the hotel's bill.

"Now, who's account will I be stealing from this time…" said Duo sarcastically.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

A/N: I offer you guys who still like to read my fics a ton of apologies for keeping you waiting for sooooooo long. For no reason I simply ran out of ideas until one night, before going to bed, it hit me… I had to drag myself out of bed to write it down… YOU OWE ME AN HOUR OF SLEEP!!!! But I love to write so don't worry, I won't charge you for it, just have fun while reading it and don't forget to review after you've done so.

By the way, thank you ahanchan for pointing out that both Wufei and Heero meet Duo before he becomes the target. To tell you the truth, I hadn't noticed it… he, he, well, you've opened a whole knew line of possibilities for this story… thanks a bunch. Thanks to Juliana and Nikkler as well for reviewing last chapter!


	4. Fourth Chapter

**FOURTH CHAPTER**

Heero finally summoned enough courage to visit the damp, dingy alley. It was nearly midnight, and the sky above seemed to agree with his foul mood, since it was laden with thick, dark clouds that promised rain. The place, set between a couple of rather tall apartment buildings, was even darker than the street outside.

A large neon sign flashing pink letters showed him his destination. Heero merely sighed and stuck his hands in his pockets before walking over to a moldy wooden door. To his bad luck, the hinges creaked loudly when he opened it, drawing towards him some unwanted stares. Ignoring the eyes that fell upon him, he sat at the bar.

At an old, forgotten and nearly run down men's club in the darkest streets of New York, Heero and Wufei had gotten word from their old acquaintance, J.

"What can I get ya?" asked the fat bartender.

"J"

For a while, the bartender looked at him through narrowed eyes, carefully studying him. He discovered Heero was dead serious.

"He's upstairs… and he's not in a good mood"

"Well good, 'cause neither am I"

And so, Heero was allowed to climb a hidden staircase next to the bar into darker rooms at the place's second floor. J, an old man with long hair and large, fly-like glasses was lazily smoking on a couch in the corner of the first room Heero came to. Just like the place outside, the room seemed as run down and musty beneath the dim light of a computer's screen.

"I see you finally decided to drag your sorry ass here," said J between puffs of white smoke.

"Then I guess you already know what I'm looking for"

J took a long drag of his cigar before smirking darkly. Heero knew perfectly well what that smirk meant: as always in these sort of businesses, whatever information J might provide him with wasn't going to be for free.

"Well, since you only go for the bigger fish, I'd say you're after the Winner Co. hacker"

"What's the price?"

J was the owner of the men's club, or at least for the moment, since he wasn't really the type of man to just stay put somewhere. He was a hard to find man, and yet an excellent source of information for Heero's job. Heero and him had some history together that not even Wufei was fully acquainted with. Apparently it was J who first suggested that Heero become an assassin.

"He, he, for an old friend? I want 10 of what you get"

"…forget it"

"He, he, he. All right, all right… let's see…"

While J lit another cigar, Heero pulled a large roll of bills. J inhaled deeply and got to business.

"There's a list of 5 that could be your hacker, and they're all men"

Heero laid down a thousand dollars on a table. J had just narrowed his search to a bout a 40 of the population. After all, there are more women that men, same goes for hackers. J stared hungrily at the bills and prompted himself to give away as much as he could… business wasn't going well those days.

"You might be wanting to look for a guy around your age… between seventeen and… twenty five, I'd say"

Another thousand dollars were set down.

"Also, he's staying here, in the U.S.A."

Yet another thousand.

"And before I forget, he travels alone"

You guessed right, a thousand more.

At this point J stopped talking and scratched his beard thoughtfully. Heero eyed him curiously and then looked down at the four thousand dollars lying on top of the metallic table.

"Just four?" asked the assassin with the slightest trace of mockery.

"Wait, I'm sure I had at least the fifth…"

"I'd say you're starting to rust" Heero finally folded the rest of the bills and put them away, "if you get anything else then give Wufei a call"

The old man stomped his foot angrily against the floor, but nevertheless took the money in one swift motion. Without counting them or checking just to check if they weren't fake, he pocketed the dollars and stood up to shake Heero's hand.

"I knew I had the fifth one. It must've been something not quite important or I wouldn't have forgotten about it… Anyways, it's a pleasure doing business with you."

"Hn…"

"Make sure you stop by and take a look at my girls" J winked an eye.

"…"

"He, alright, alright. Do come by again then, he, he"

Heero left the dark room as soon as possible. He was the kind of guy that went straight to the point, not bothering to linger in useless, stupid banter, and was glad that his visit to the place was over in less that fifteen minutes. He thoughtfully rolled over in his mind what he'd just picked up from J. He was supposed to be looking for a male hacker, around his own age who traveled alone and was currently living in the U.S.A. It wasn't really that much help, considering the population of the entire country, but at least it was a start, and being as he was the best, he was sure he'd have his payment in less than four, maybe five, months.

"_Now I have to call Wufei_" thought Heero, "_and have him begin the hunt._"

Out of maybe morbid curiosity he looked back at the girls on his way out. A couple of them were making one of those oh so common dances and some drunken customers were trying without success to grab a hold of one.

"_Disgusting_" thought Heero as one of the girls' mad laughter rang in the nearly empty place.

XXX XXX XXX

Taking a paper towel next to him, Duo dried the warm droplets of water pearling the surface of his face. Staring at his reflection in the dirty mirror hanging in front of him, he discovered that the guy looking back at him seemed a little bit worse for the wear, but at least still fully awake and surprisingly well held together. He was about to wonder how to best fix himself, considering the place he was at, but stopped as he decided it would be a hopeless cause. The only thing he tried was a little shake of his head to try and get rid of the faintest trace of hangover that was somehow slowly crawling up his entire body.

_"Way to go, Maxwell"_ he thought, _"now get your ass out of here before you get into any trouble"_

Despite what a first impression might give away, Duo Maxwell had a bit of an obsession about being in self-control. He hated it when things got a bit out of hand and it didn't come as a big surprise the fact that he absolutely despised getting drunk. One surely commits a lot of stupid things under the influence of alcohol, things one doesn't really remember afterwards after all.

Leaving the restroom Duo was at currently, he saw the entrance door shutting itself behind what must've been just another customer.

_"How in Hell's name did I come to such a place?"_ he mused as he stared at the fat bar tender that was cleaning a glass with a spotted rag.

A shrill laugh cut Duo off his musings and he turned to see one of the striper girls teasingly playing with a drunken bum.

_"Yep, you better get out of here, fast"_

For an unknown reason, Duo had found himself walking into that dead end alleyway at nearly ten o'clock in the night and entering a men's club for a drink. Even though he wasn't all that fond of alcoholic beverages, he ordered a couple of beers, which soon became a stronger drink. He kept getting drunk like that until he saw in his wristwatch it was nearly midnight.

He supposed his bad mood had something to do with him not being able to find what he'd been looking for in his computer for maybe the first time in his life. But then again, Duo wasn't really straight and he kept wondering why a men's club, of all places.

As he slowly made his way across the tables in front of the bar, an unseen girl cut his way placing a hand on his shoulder. "Leaving so soon love?"

Duo glanced back at the girl. She was shorter than him by a good amount of inches, barely reaching his chin with the top of her head. She was a slim brunette with a great lack of clothes, bothering only to cover the essential… barely. He gave her a cheesy grin and swept her hand off his shoulder with a mere shrug.

"I must" he answered offhandedly, and turned once more to leave.

"But…"

"Good-bye!" he raised his tone to cut off whatever the girl had to say and quickened his pace. Finally outside he stretched and saw a shadow move between the darkness and turn the corner. He supposed it was the customer that he heard leave just when he was exiting the restroom.

"Well" he spoke out loud to himself, "off to find trouble elsewhere… and maybe get some sleep"

Whistling a tune he didn't even know he knew, he slowly made his way across some six blocks to the small motel he was staying at. Mastering the dizziness that threatened to get hold of him, he produced the key card of his room and pushed the door open, nearly falling to the floor after momentarily losing his balance. It took him a while to focus his eyes. He leaned heavily on the door, shutting it behind him, while he regained control over himself. In front lay the bed neatly made and a desk on top of which his laptop rested.

At first he made for the desk, griping the back of the chair firmly to avoid a nasty fall, but as he stared at the black device, he realized that another search would prove as fruitless as the previous one, even more so in his current state. No matter what he did, he wouldn't be able to find Heero Yuy that night.

True, he could always go back to his hotel room, since he'd already been there twice and had no trouble in finding it all over again, but he was damn sure Heero wouldn't stay there forever. Being that as it was, he had decided to poke around in the net in search for some background information on Heero Yuy, but had found nothing about him, not even using a great deal of his hacking abilities. He had tried looking for something at the hotel's archives, but had only come across the name Chang, Wufei, which had sent him panicking. Then again, making a double take, he remembered having heard Heero himself call someone like that on the phone and he assumed that Wufei was the guy he'd met the other day he'd gone looking for Heero. So he wasn't really too lost, but all the same, not a word on a man named 'Heero Yuy'.

Finally sitting at the bed's edge, he began unstrapping his black boots thinking glumly about whatever this could mean. _"Maybe it was a fake name"_ he thought. After finishing with his boots he pushed himself to the center of the bed. _"I guess I'll just have to…"_ a big yawn overtook him, _"see tomorrow…"_Without bothering to get undressed Duo fell asleep almost immediately, snoring loudly.

He might not have liked it, but he was slowly becoming more and more obsessed with this guy. He usually told himself it was only to give him his clothes back and to get even for being treated the way he had been when they met. Duo could still remember the cold and harsh way Heero had shooed him from his hotel room, and this, according to Duo, was another good reason to be Heero-hunting, _just_ to get even for the rudeness. …See if you'd actually believe _that_.

XXX XXX XXX

"So, how's the old man?" asked Wufei absentmindedly while walking around the room, collecting a bunch of stuff in his arms.

"Huh?" Heero was surprised by his friend's sudden inquiry. He had just locked the door behind him and had found a very hurried Wufei darting back and forth laden with things belonging to them.

"J"

"Well… he's fine… Speaking of which, what exactly are you doing?"

Wufei paused long enough to turn and look at the guy standing right in front of the door. After really making sure it was no other that Heero Yuy himself, he sighed in what was unmistakably discontent.

"Heero, I _told_ you we were leaving tonight"

"Wha-?"

"Don't tell me you've forgotten! Really, you'd have thought that for someone such as yourself you'd pay more attention to details. I still wonder how do you manage to be the best at what you do."

"I… I'm sorry Wufei, I've had my mind focusing on something else lately… I…"

"Oh, just shut up and make yourself useful" Wufei walked right over to Heero and gave him the trinkets he'd been carrying around, "here. Make sure you get everything packed while I go check out at reception. There's not much left."

Wufei took the card key Heero had just used to get in and left the room. Even if it was midnight, there was no changing Wufei's mind. They usually switched hotels just like that, unexpectedly and at ungodly hours. According to Wufei, it was just as a preventive measure so they wouldn't get caught by revengeful victims of their job, but this was a top in the unexpected. Heero had kind of being hoping they'd stay for at least two more days.

_"Not that stupid Maxwell again"_ thought Heero as he reminded himself of the real reason he had been hoping to stay put longer, _"you're not seeing him again and that's final. After all, what are the real chances of seeing a guy again in this city."_ He then remembered Wufei talking about a guy dressed in black coming to their very room…

Well, no use worrying about that anymore. He was the best, hired assassin in probably the entire world and he couldn't really afford to have something like that gnawing at the back of his mind. Right now he only needed to concentrate in finding the hacker and getting paid for it. If, and only _if_, he could get the chance to search the guy after he was done, well… he might try it.

Heero mentally slapped himself for even thinking about the guy once more. He was cold-blooded, he was ruthless, he was methodical… he couldn't afford anything else to interrupt this. _"No"_ he firmly decided as he made his way to the suitcase lying on top of the bed nearly filled with clothes, _"I can't afford any interruptions… after all, I'm used to simply being alone, with only Wufei. I don't see why this Duo character should make any difference."_ And with such thought at mind he completely let the Maxwell issue drift away from his mind…

XXX XXX XXX

**A/N:** …hello? Anyone there? …mmm, well, if no one's there to read this then serve me right. If there is then… I'M REALLY SORRY!!! :( I do realize it's taken me forever to update this fic, but I would never forget about it, honest! Anyways, I'm really sorry for being such a lazy oaf, but I do hope you like this new chapter… Once again I'm sorry, and I hope you have an excellent new year.


	5. Fifth Chapter

**FIFTH CHAPTER**

_:SHINIGAMI has entered the chat:_

_Epyon says: _Hi there, Shinigami.

_Shinigami says:_ hello

_Epyon says: _And to what do you owe the reason for such a dark nick?

_Shinigami says: _know what it means?

_Epyons says: _Of course. It means "god of death"

_Shinigami says: _impressive. I guess I just liked the way it sounds

_Epyon says: _really? It's got nothing to do with your hidden personality?

_:TALLGEESE has entered the chat:_

_Tallgeese says: _Who u talking 2?

_Shinigami says: _I am the lord of death!

_Epyon says: _Yup, it's him alright, tallgeese

_Tallgeese says: _Oh really? Well, nice to finally meet the hacking-wonder

_Shinigami says: _the what?

_Epyon says:_ So, how's N.Y.? I bet you like it. It's big and an excellent hiding place. How could Winner know that his very prey is just underneath his nose, right?

_:SHINIGAMI has left the chat:_

_Tallgeese says: _bravo, u scared him.

_Epyon says: _Don't worry, he won't go far without me knowing

_Tallgeese says: _u think u're so special

_Epyons says:_ the little fucker sent me a virus! Talk to you later

_Tallgeese says: _K.

XXX XXX XXX

"So, where to next?"

"I was thinking maybe South"

Aboard Wufei's new, black Hummer (1), the protesting Heero stared glumly through the window. He hated constant travel, as it was always so boring spending endless hours on a seemingly eternal road. He had never told Wufei, but the idea of retiring wasn't really that farfetched as of late.

"But why South?"

"On account of the weather," stated Wufei happily and turning the radio on. Winter was just around the corner and Wufei wasn't really a fanatic of it.

"So… we're going… where?"

"I was thinking maybe L.A."

Heero resigned himself to crossing his arms and reclining on his seat. It was going to be a hell of a long journey. Wufei didn't fail to notice this gesture.

"You could at least _try_ to pretend you like the idea" he remarked.

"You know I don't like to travel… at least not like this" Heero answered after a little while.

"I've told you at least a thousand times that we can't travel any other way"

Heero rolled his eyes in reply. He knew that the only reason they wouldn't travel by plane, despite all Wufei's excuses of safety measures, was that he just plain hated airplanes and got sick as soon as the stewardess welcomed them and thanked them for choosing their airline (2). That only made things complicated whenever they had to go overseas.

"Don't you think we'll be wasting a lot of time in this little trip of yours?"

"Quite the contrary," Wufei seemed to be exited about something. His expressions didn't show it, but someone as observant as Heero could note the slight chance in his voice. Knowing him for as long as he did was also helpful, as the Chinese man was usually an impenetrable wall. "We don't have a lead on this hacker's current location, except that he's staying in the U.S.A. according to J. He also gave you some names, didn't he?"

"Not exactly. He gave me some aliases and some general facts, but nothing big. According to J, there are 5 big shots in this business good enough to pull such a job, but they're good in hiding as well."

"Well then, you'll have plenty of time to investigate on that now, without any distractions the big city might offer…" Wufei made an awkward pause. He wasn't really sure he should mention the guy in black again or not. Heero didn't seem to react to this, so he just went on. "It's just you, me, your laptop and many miles of road."

Heero could only sigh in reply this time.

XXX XXX XXX

Duo Maxwell closed his laptop. A small click filled the otherwise silent room. All right then, so a guy wasn't allowed to have a bit of distraction, big deal! Being all alone in such a big city was boring, especially at night. He wasn't afraid of going out, he could very well take care of himself. What concerned him the most was getting lost.

He sighed in defeat. Fine! If he wasn't allowed to have fun on the net, he'd just have to sit it out until the next morning and try to have some sleep.

Although… the fact that someone _knew_ about him was disturbing. At first, he thought whomever he'd been talking to was just bluffing, with all his hacking-wonder shit. After they mentioned Winner, though, Duo began to worry. He only had one option left after that and it was sending one of them a virus and then get out, cutting all chances of being further tracked. So far, those people knew he was staying at N.Y., but he was certain that if they had known his exact location, he wouldn't be there anymore. With a reward the size Winner Co. was offering, no one would waste time.

He approached the bathroom mirror of his cheap motel room. It was dirty at the edges, but that didn't quite matter to him. His long braid was still tightly made, his eyes were just a bit red around the very shiny violet of his irises, and his skin was pale. Maybe he ought to go out more often while there was still sunlight.

Deciding that there was nothing he could, or wanted for that matter, to do with his outer appearance, he made his way towards his bed and flopped on top without bothering to get undressed. The hacker merely kicked off his boots and threw one disdainful look towards his laptop, still thinking about what had just happened.

Turning his face the other side, he stared into the wall's blackness. N.Y. had just become another dangerous city and he couldn't afford any mistakes from now on. True, he tended to be a bit careless when it came to his hacking abilities, but he was skillful enough to get off trouble easily. Now it would be no different, as he had to make a move fast, relying entirely on his devil's luck.

"Hn… L.A. sound good" he muttered into the pillow as he remembered a commercial about the place he'd seen earlier on T.V. "I've always wanted to visit that place… they say it's got perpetual summer…" and with that last thought, he dozed off.

XXX XXX XXX

**A/N: **Ok, I admit that was a short, crappy chapter. I actually sort of just made it to let you guys know I'm still here. Also, there was this part of the story I just couldn't quite figure out how to write… I guess insomnia helps as it's nearly 3 in the morning and I still feel with enough energy to rival that of a sugar-high induced sprint. Oh well, here's to not being able to go out of the house at this hour. Despite my self-inflicted sabotage at the beginning of this note, I really hope you enjoy this chapter… even if not much of the story is developed here… And just let me tell you that I'm still not gone (this is living proof), and that I'll come back to this fic with full attention as soon as I finish "In sickness and in health" (anyone care to take a look at it and leave me a review at the end of chapter nine?). Right, all that said, I leave, and I hope you guys review after reading this.

(1) I don't own the company, I don't own the brand… heck! I don't even own one of those cars myself, but I love cars, and I love Hummers, and I swear that one day, when I'm rich and famous I'll own at least 20 of them… in the meantime I'll let one of my story's characters own one… it's so sad to be a _poor_ writer.

(2) This thought amuses me a lot!


End file.
